The invention relates to the field of printing using modern, high-feature printers. More specifically, the invention relates to facilitated and flexible processing of complex print job parameters such as document cover and sheet insert specifications.
At the outset, it is useful to review certain terminology which will be used in the following discussions. A print job typically is a data file stored accessibly to an information handling system such as a high function personal computer or a network server. The data file may have been originated in a number of ways known to printing technologists, including original document keying, scanning, use of graphics design programs, and the like. The print job may be understood as defining a sequence of pages. A page is one surface of a sheet. The sheet may be a cut sheet, as in a single piece of what is known to most as letter size paper, or a continuous roll. With two surfaces, a sheet may receive two pages. In transferring a print job to a printer, an operator will create a job ticket which describes to the printer or print server the control functions necessary to cause the print job to appear on the finished pages as desired by the originator. These control functions may include incorporation of special features or elements, repetition from one page to another of certain features or elements, changes in fonts or paper, and the like.
When preparing jobs for printing on high-feature printers, such as the IBM Infoprint 2000 and others, the job originator may specify job ticket instructions or parameters that are best perceived visually. These parameters may specify such elements as front and back covers and preprinted sheets that the system will add to the print job pages at prescribed locations in a sequence of pages.
Existing products and programs require that a job originator specify these parameters using traditional dialogs and by listing preprinted sheet locations by referring to original document pages; for example, “insert preprinted sheet A after page 3”. In such an environment, it is easy for the job originator to make a mistake because there is no visual feedback identifying exactly where each preprinted sheet or cover is to be placed. Some existing products use a proprietary application to provide a ‘tree view’ of the document that shows preprinted sheets as attached to the surrounding original pages.
It is desirable to provide a more intuitive way of accepting user specifications for cover sheets and preprinted inserts and illustrating the same visually. Job originators should be relieved of the need to remember job page numbers and other print parameters, like duplex status, etc., that may need to be adjusted to make the print job come out correctly.